Zambia and Botswana Top Peace Index in Southern Africa

The recently released 2019 Global Peace Index saw Botswana and Zambia ranked among the top five most peaceful African countries and in the top 50 globally.

Zambia has moved up the rankings to 48 out of 163, while Botswana sits at 30. Other African countries to place highly include Malawi at 40, Ghana at 44 and Sierra Leone at 52.

According to the Index Iceland is the most peaceful country in the world, while Afghanistan is the least, followed by Syria, South Sudan, Yemen and Iraq. Overall the average level of global peacefulness was calculated to have slightly improved since 2018 for the first time in five years.

The Index is produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) and covers a range of indicators focused on social safety and security, ongoing domestic and international conflict, and the degree of militarization. The 2019 figures are the thirteenth edition.